New car - diesel or petrol?

egyptiancotton

I'll be changing my car in the next few weeks as my commute will drastically change from 12k miles a year to 25k miles a year. Currently drive a 2008 1.25 petrol Fiesta.


I've been looking into diesels but when I went to my local VW dealer a week ago, one of the managers recommended the new 1.0 litre 95bhp Polo as it's still very economical; her commuting mileage is similar and she drove a diesel Polo but didn't find it that economical so she switched to the petrol engine instead. I always thought that diesels were the best option if your mileage is above a certain threshold, but a few people have said that new petrol engines are still very economical and worth considering as the government is trying to get diesels off the road.


I'm in two minds now but would be grateful for advice.

TadleyBaggie

I bought a diesel 3 years ago, it is definitely my last. My next car will almost certainly be a petrol hybrid.

AdrianC

The VED difference has narrowed markedly - in fact, for that pair, there's zero difference.

Book economy on them is 63mpg or 74mpg combined. At today's average of 1.25 petrol, 1.34 diesel, that makes the fuel cost 8.9p/mile for petrol or 8.1p/mile for diesel. Minimal.


So it comes down to maintenance costs, depreciation, and - perhaps most importantly of the lost - which you PREFER... After all, you're doing 25k/year in it...

wgl2014

As Adrian has said, try both and see which you prefer.

(Or just keep your current car)

giraffe69

vw group aren't finding it easy/possible to provide diesels at present so maybe seeking to steer you towards petrol?

egyptiancotton

giraffe69 wrote: »

vw group aren't finding it easy/possible to provide diesels at present so maybe seeking to steer you towards petrol?

Snap. My thoughts exactly - it popped into my head on the day.

Jonesya

Is a petrol Polo offering you anything more than your existing Fiesta, Other than costing you massively more?

I could understand it if you were getting something bigger or changing to a diesel, but to switch from one small petrol car to another seems to offer little difference.

egyptiancotton

Jonesya wrote: »

Is a petrol Polo offering you anything more than your existing Fiesta, Other than costing you massively more?

I could understand it if you were getting something bigger or changing to a diesel, but to switch from one small petrol car to another seems to offer little difference.

Fair point. The purpose of changing the car is to buy something more economical, but also to treat myself; I've had the Fiesta for 7 and a half years and I've just been offered a new job, so I wanted to treat myself at the same time.

neilmcl

Why buy new and why a small car like a Polo? If I were commuting over 25K per year I would much prefer something larger, both in size and engine capacity, and more comfortable.

Goudy

25,000 miles isn't massive, that's 480 a week or 96 a day over a 5 day week or 48 there and 48 back.
Depending on traffic/speed it could be as little as an hour in it each way, I think a large diesel motorway barge isn't really suitable.

Have you considered a Toyota Yaris Hybrid?

A colleague swapped a diesel Fiesta Econetic for one a few years ago and does the same sort of mileage.
It actually beats the diesel Fiesta for mpg, she clocks 80+ mpg on her daily commute in and out of London from Bucks. (the Fiesta managed 60 mpg).

They are pretty much bombproof, the engine and drive chain are lifted straight out of the second generation Prius and mini cabbers have been flogging these to 400,000+ miles without major problems.
Due to the way they work, the engine is totally unstressed and they use a fancy constantly variable gearbox/electric motor combo (not the old rubber band type CVT) so they are quite relaxing and very smooth to drive.

Toyota's come with 5 year warranties, so even a used 2 year old that's took the brunt of the depreciation would still have 3 years left and could be picked up for 10 grand or so with £0 road fund licence.

Once out of warranty, there are plenty of specialist that'll look after it a lot more cheaply than the dealer, even specialists that'll refurbish clapped out hybrid batteries for a couple of hundred quid.

I wouldn't be too tempted by a diesel these days, only the latest Euro spec cars will be allowed in London next year (other cities will follow) and it'll be soon out of date when they move the target on to the next spec, you'll soon end up with something that is a liability and has little resale value as everyone now "knows" diesels are the work of the devil.

The emission control devices are perhaps their downfall, they over complicate the engine and aren't really reliable or have decent service life, they are also quite expensive when they go wrong.
Even if a DPF has chance to regenerate properly, it still burns the soot into ash and the ash eventually fills the filter.

They can be more expensive to service and are certainly more expensive to repair, nearly all are fitted with dual mass flywheels (not the most reliable things in the world) and that can add an extra couple of hundred to the price of a clutch.

For economy, there's just no need for them any more, even the good old London Taxi's are changing to petrol hybrids.

I must admit, I did find it funny that your VW dealer was trying to flog you a petrol rather than a diesel.
I reckon since the official test changed to WLTP their engineers haven't worked out how to cheat it yet!

onomatopoeia99

Goudy wrote: »

2
They can be more expensive to service and are certainly more expensive to repair, nearly all are fitted with dual mass flywheels (not the most reliable things in the world) and that can add an extra couple of hundred to the price of a clutch.

My petrol car has a dual mass flywheel. When the clutch wore out the flywheel did not need to be replaced.